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Debt News (Jan 2024)

Monthly Debt News looks at debts and the causes of debts in Britain from various sources selected for professionals to make the debt sector simple.

This month’s Debt News in the new year includes the UK’s child poverty highest among the wealthiest nations, rent arrears high in many northern council tenancies, 28% of southern water companies going to service their debts,  Dutch firm challenge ULEZ fine in High Court, Labour considers student loan right off for NHS workers and bitesize stats to get an overview of the causes of debts in Britain. You can also catch up with previous Debt Talk podcasts if you have missed them.


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Debt News

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Child poverty levels in the UK worst among world’s richest nations, UNICEF report finds


Child income poverty rates in the United Kingdom were the highest among the world's richest countries, a report by U.N. children's agency UNICEF said, ranking bottom of the table for changes in those rates in the past decade.

More here: Link


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Councils across the North East owed total of £16.5m in rent arrears


Five North East councils are owed a total of £16.5m in rent arrears as one authority vowed that 'all debts are appropriately pursued’


More here: Link

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Water firms use up to 28% of bill payments to service debt in areas of England


More than a quarter of water bills in London and parts of the south of England have been spent paying interest on the debt held by privatised water companies, the Guardian can reveal.


More here: Link


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Nearly 30,000 businesses will fail in 2024, economists warn


Nearly 30,000 businesses will fail next year under the weight of high interest rates, economists have warned, taking corporate insolvencies to their highest level since 2004...

More here: Link

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ULEZ: Dutch lorry firms launch High Court challenge over £6.5m in fines in blow to Sadiq Khan


Transport for London (TfL) could be forced to pay back millions in ULEZ fines after Dutch lorry firms launched a first-of-its-kind legal challenge over penalties issued to foreign drivers.


More here: Link

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Labour considers plan for student loan write-offs to tackle NHS staffing crisis


Newly qualified doctors and nurses in England could have their student loans written off under plans being examined by Labour to tackle the NHS’s staffing crisis.


More here: Link


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(Dec 2023) - Debt Talk: Debt, housing costs & homelessness (Podcast)


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Bite Size  stats:

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There were 24,418 individual insolvencies in England and Wales in Q3 2023, 1,539 fewer than in the previous quarter. The largest increase since the current series began in 2010 was seen between Q2 2020 and Q3 2020. (Commons Library)

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The total number of repossessions in London during the first three quarters of 2023 was 5,301, including 2,376 Section 21 ("no-fault") evictions. This is compared to 1,919 repossessions through the whole of 2020 when evictions were paused during the COVID-19 pandemic (Trust for London)

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The outstanding value of all residential mortgage loans decreased by 0.1% from the previous quarter to £1,654.3 billion, and was 0.8% lower than a year earlier (FCA)

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(Nov 2023) - Debt Talk: Alternative lending & Debt (Podcast)


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